The CEO of Rocket Companies combines the approaches of Silicon Valley and Detroit
Varun Krishna, CEO of Rocket Companies, who has led the company for three years, aims to combine Silicon Valley’s concentration of talent with the tenacity and dedication characteristic of Detroit’s corporate culture. He shared this with Fortune.
According to Krishna, Silicon Valley places a high value on intelligence and operates on the assumption that a group of smart people has a high chance of success. At the same time, he believes that Detroit’s success is determined not only by this, but also by tenacity, endurance, perseverance, and belief in the cause.
Krishna noted that Rocket Companies strives to retain employee loyalty. He said that in Silicon Valley, many professionals look for a new job roughly every 18 months, whereas creating something truly transformative can take five years. He explained that the company’s culture is important to its employees, and that a mortgage is a tool for achieving a broader goal—homeownership.
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At Rocket Companies, according to the CEO, data and evidence are key to decision-making. As examples of major bets, he cited the acquisitions of Redfin and Mr. Cooper for a total of $16 billion last year. The company has also formed an alliance with Compass, which is expected to add over 500,000 new real estate listings to the Redfin platform and transform the seller experience.
Krishna also wants to foster a Silicon Valley-like environment in Detroit: one with active collaboration between startups, venture capital firms, and educational institutions, as well as informal gatherings and continuous learning. According to him, half of the management team members have come from cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and Boston. He emphasized the need to combine a local approach with the recruitment of external talent, and described Rocket founder Dan Gilbert as a person who built and repeatedly reinvented the company.
